Local talent takes over at Moses Lake Museum

MOSES LAKE — The members take over the museum this month, as the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center’s Members Exhibition showcases local talent on tap. 

“The show features a wide variety of art in different styles,” Museum Communications Coordinator Natalia Zuyeva wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “Ceramics, acrylic, watercolor, stained glass and more are present in this year’s show.” 

In its third year now, the Members Exhibition has become something of a tradition at the museum. Artists are invited to submit art for the show, and the museum tries to get at least one by each artist in, Museum Director Dollie Boyd said in an interview last year. The primary requirement is that the artists be members of the museum. 

Some of the pieces were already on display at the museum Thursday. Museum employee Bee Iverson pointed to some ceramic items that are just about as locally made as it’s possible to be. 

“(The artist) processed the clay from his house in (Warden), made these and fired it in a cook pit at his house,” Iverson said. “So, it’s 100% handmade.” 

Iverson is an artist herself, with several items in the show. One depicts a skeleton capering under the moon in a danse macabre, reminiscent of an illuminated medieval manuscript. That’s the look she was going for, she said. She was inspired by an art history class one of her co-workers taught at the museum. 

“I signed up for the medieval one because they were using gold leaf, and I wanted to try it,” Iverson said. “And I had so much fun in the class, I ordered the gold leaf and committed to doing it as a full illustration instead of just a one-hour project.” 

The exhibition opens Friday with a reception catered by Paradise Bar and Grill, beer and wine provided by Columbia Basin Allied Arts and live music by local musician Jon White.  

Along with the exhibit, visitors are invited to take part in Art After Hours, a time when the grownups take over the craft table. Participants will make a button tree ornament with materials supplied by the museum. In addition, the museum store will have handmade goods by local artists so patrons can get an early – and creative – start on holiday shopping. The reception, the exhibit and Art After Hours are all free of charge. 

“The opening reception (is what) I look forward to most,” Zuyeva wrote. “The art is incredible, of course; there’s always a wide variety of subjects and mediums, but it’s also our big end-of-year party celebrating our community, art, history and culture. There’s food and drinks, live music, a craft activity, and all-around good vibes.” 

Members Exhibition 

Nov. 15-Dec. 27 

Moses Lake Museum & Art Center 

406 S. Balsam St. 

Opening reception:
4-7 p.m. Nov. 15 

    Museum employee and artist Bee Iverson created this gold leaf representation of the danse macabre, a medieval tradition that reminded people of their mortality and the fragility of life. It’s part of the Members Exhibition at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.
  

    The Members Exhibition at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center features items in a variety of media, like these ceramic figurines created by a Moses Lake artist.
  

    This hand-painted guitar is one of the more unusual pieces in the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center’s members Exhibition, and Museum Director Dollie Boyd’s personal favorite, she wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald.